Love Takes Time
by Nonnihil Scelestus
Summary: Jordan has commitment issues. Will she and Garrett be able to work through them. Rated R for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I jut borrow them for a little while.  
  
Love Takes Time  
  
Jordan was laying down on the couch in her office. She'd slept there again. With Max gone and Woody becoming more and more distant, Jordan just didn't know what to do or who to turn to when she needed to talk. Garrett was the only one who had stood by her lately, but even he had his limits. Jordan sighed and pulled her blanket closer around her body as she looked up at the clock. It was 6:30. Most of the people she worked with wouldn't be in for another hour and a half, so she went back to sleep. Garrett found her there around 8:15, when he came to see if she had finished all her back logged paperwork. She looked so peaceful sleeping there, even with the dark circles under he eyes, that he couldn't wake her. Garrett noticed she was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the day before and frowned. She had slept there. He glanced over at her desk and noticed that all but three of the files were finished. Garrett bent down and recovered her with the blanket and kissed her forehead.

"You're a mess Jordan Cavenaugh, but I love you anyway." Garrett whispered as he picked up the completed files. He walked back to his office and printed a note for Jordan's door. He figured that she need the rest, and he didn't want anyone to bother her. Jordan woke again around noon and jumped up when she noticed the time. She saw that the paperwork she had finished was gone and figured Garrett had been by to get it. Jordan opened her office door and was about to start down the hall to Garrett's when she noticed the note on her door. Only Garrett would be considerate enough to allow her to sleep. Any other boos would have woken her up and told her to either work or go home. But then Garrett was also her best friend, and perhaps something more in the future. Jordan could only hope. Jordan walked down the hall to Garrett's office with a slight smile on her face. She knocked on the door and walked in without waiting."Hey, are you trying to give me a hint or something?" Jordan asked as she handed the note to Garrett."No. I was just trying to make sure you got some rest. You didn't go home last night." Garrett answered as he looked at her pointedly.

"You wanted me to finish the paperwork, so I staid to get them done. I hadn't meant to stay all night, but I fell asleep." Jordan replied trying to cover up the fact that she was avoiding her lonely apartment, her dad's house and the bar. "Besides, the quicker I finish the paperwork, the quicker I can get back to being an ME."

"I'm glad that you finished most of the paperwork, but you've been avoiding going home. Ever since Max left, you haven't been the same. You've been pulling away from Woody too. Everyone's noticed it. You need to talk to someone. I don't care if it's the plant in your office, you need to get it off your chest, or it will eat away at you. I'm worried about you, Jordan." Garrett lectured. If Jordan hadn't been so tired she might have been mad, instead she was close to tears.

"I just don't know what to do or who to turn to, Garrett. After this thing with James and then Dad leaving, I don't know what to do. I find out I have a brother, only to think he murdered my mother and then realize he's innocent and lose him. Then Dad left, and I have so many questions, but I cant ask them because I don't want to make things worse between us, not to mention he's gone. As for Woody, he's seeing Devan. That's why we don't hang out. He's more interested in her, and I'm just the ex girlfriend, which I wasn't really in the first place but he doesn't want to be around me because of some seemed sexual tension that only exists for him. I'm so frustrated and so lost and alone, and not to mention screwed up royally. I didn't mean to push this all on you, because I do that a lot and I take advantage of our friendship." Jordan finished with a huff that turned into silent tears. Garrett got up and pulled her into a hug. Jordan held onto him for dear life, her sobs audible now.

"Jordan, you can always talk to me. I'll always be here for you. You are my best friend and that will never change." Garrett hugged her tighter until Jordan stopped crying.

"Thank you Garrett, for always being there for me. You're my best friend too." Jordan said feeling better.

"Now all we need to do to get you to smile is to grab Nigel and Bug and lock Woody in the trunk of his stupid car." Garrett said with a smirk.

"You've noticed that he drives a granny car too?" Jordan asked with a grin."Yeah. Real men drive sports cars and trucks." Garrett answered and Jordan laughed."Or ride motorcycles." She added."Are you implying Nigel's a real man?" Garrett asked."Are you implying I'm not?" Nigel asked from the doorway with a smile."Just the opposite. We said tat real men drive sports cars and trucks or ride motorcycles." Jordan said covering their asses.

"Damn straight." Nigel agreed before hugging Jordan. "Its good to see you smile, love. We were starting to get worried about you."

"Does everyone worry about me?" Jordan asked with mock anger.

"Of course. Where would we be without hurricane Jordan to keep our lives interesting?" Lily said coming up behind Nigel, with Bug.

"Hurricane Jordan, huh? Well if I'd known that you enjoyed my presence that much, I would have just moved into the morgue." Jordan said sarcastically and everyone laughed.

"You know what would be great right now? Pizza!" Lily said. Every one agreed and fished out money for five small pizzas, so everyone could have what they wanted and Lily went to order. Bug and Nigel wandered back to their lab to finish the tests they were running while they waited for the pizza. Jordan sat on the edge of Garrett's desk.

"Feel better now? Do you see how much we need 'Hurricane' Jordan in our lives to keep us on our toes. We all love you." Garrett said, hoping to make her see how much she was needed. Jordan looked like she might cry again. "No more tears, my shirts already soaked." Garrett joked.

"Yeah, I see. You guys are all to good to me. Thank you." Jordan answered. She and Garrett talked until Lily came in with the pizza. Nigel and Bug were right behind her, having smelled it from down the hall. They camped out on the floor in Garrett's office, each of the with a pizza, occasionally stealing a slice from someone else's. They talked and laughed until DA Rene Walcot walked in during one of Nigel's lame jokes.

"A man walks into a bar, what does he say?" Nigel asked.

"Ouch" Bug answers. "We've all heard that one Nig."

"So, it's a good one, Sir Buggles." Nigel retorted. Rene cleared her throat and everyone looked up at her.

"Nice to see that everyone is enjoying themselves. Aren't you supposed to be working on the Weston case?" She asked Nigel and Bug.

"We are, but there's nothing we can do until we get the results of our test back which wont be done for another 10 minutes, but we'll go check them now just in case." Nigel said giving Bug a meaningful glance. Lily followed them out.

"That's my cue to go finish up those last few reports I didn't finish. I'll talk to you later Garrett. Rene, nice to see you again." Jordan said as she walked out the door, closing it softly behind her. She ducked into her office and shut the door before anyone could say anything, hoping to sneak into the lab when Rene was looking again.

"What is going on in this office? Is that all you have to do all day is sit around on your collective asses and have a pizza party?" Rene asked once she had refocused her attention on Garrett.

"That's not fair Rene. It was for Jordan. We were trying to cheer her up…" Garrett started.

"It always comes back to Jordan. You always let her get away with everything. You fired her only to take her back. You allow her to go off on her little escapades that get her into trouble and interfere with my cases and put my detectives and herself at risk. That woman is a loose canon and one of these days its going to come back to bite you in the ass…." Rene paused for a breath and was about to start in on Jordan again but Garrett stopped her with a question.

"What is your real problem with Jordan? She hasn't done anything to you personally. She does her job. What she does on her own time is her business. If she has something that overlaps her job, so be it. I'm willing to deal with that as it comes. I wont fire her again. She is a good ME and a good friend." Garrett watched Rene's face as her said the last thing. "You're jealous of her aren't you?"

"I'm not jealous. That has nothing to do with anything. She is unprofessional." Rene said flustered.

"Why are you jealous of Jordan?" Garrett said simply holding her stare. Rene looked away first.

"Because she has something with you that I cant have. She is your best friend and you'd have to be blind to not see the chemistry between you. She's half way in love with you and you're the same way with her, and I want that from you."

"We were together and you broke it off after that day in court. You want a secret relationship and I don't I have no problem being seen with you but you were always worried about it. That was your problem not mine."

"She already has your heart even if you don't realize it. I may have had your body for a little while but she has your heart and that's why I hate her. She has you and doesn't even know it." With that Rene left. Garrett sat and thought about what Rene had said. It was true Jordan did have his heart and there was nothing that would change that. She had seen him at his worst and hadn't looked away and he had seen her at her worst and loved her anyway. Garrett staid in his office the rest of the day and Jordan figured that she would be safe in hers or in the lab. After she finished her last three files, she wandered into the lab to see what Nigel and Bug were up too. Jordan was the first to leave that night.

As soon as she got home, Jordan dropped her stuff on the couch and surveyed her apartment. It was a mess. There was a massive pile of dishes in the sink, and an even bigger pile of clothes in the middle of her bedroom floor. Her bathroom wasn't much better. Jordan cleaned her bathroom first so that she could take a shower. After she got out, she had to dig around for some clean clothes, at last finding a pair of faded jeans with holes in the knees and sweater that James had left when he had asked to stay with her, she dressed quickly and pulled her hair back with a clip. Jordan attacked her dirty laundry next, separating them and dumping the whites into the wash. Once that was done, she wandered into her kitchen to survey the damage. Seeing the mess all over she just started at one end and worked her way to the other doing dishes and cleaning out her refrigerator in the process, stopping half way so she could put a new load of laundry in the washer and put the wet ones in the dryer. She quickly finished up the kitchen then stripped the sheets off her bed so that they could be washed too. When she was done with that she collected her now dry whites and sat on the couch to fold them. She took her folded clothes and put them away and picked up her living room. Since that lasted only long enough for her to get another set of laundry to fold, Jordan did that quickly and ordered some Chinese food for dinner. Looking around, she noticed how much better he apartment looked.

"This is so much nicer." She said to herself. "Great I'm talking to my self now." Shaking her head she turned on the TV to see what was on. There was a knock on her door 45 minutes later, as she was picking out a movie to watch. It was Garrett holding her Chinese.

"I believe that this belongs to you." Garrett said handing her the bag.

"Did you pay for it too?" Jordan asked looking for any trailing delivery boys.

"No, I just pinched it off the kid and gave him a tip for nothing." Garrett joked. " I looked for you at the 'Pogue' but the bartender said that you hadn't been in for the last couple of days."

"Yeah, I just haven't felt like going in. Plus I had a previous appointment with my maid. O had to fire her, she just wasn't doing her job." Jordan cracked.

"Looks pretty clean here to me."

"It does now. I just finished cleaning it up. It looked like 'Hurricane' Jordan landed in the middle of my apartment. Anyway, do you want some Chinese, I always order enough for two?"

"If you don't mind sharing." They settled themselves on Jordan's couch and ate the first minutes in silence.

"So what crawled up Rene's ass, that had her so crabby today? She looked mad enough to spit fire." Jordan asked casually.

"She's jealous of you, Jordan, so she came in there and saw all of us sitting around laughing and carrying on and figured you instigated it. Then she blamed me for letting it slide. And I had to mention that it was to cheer you up and that set her off on you again."

"What is her problem? I know you just said that jealous of me, but if she wants my problems and insecurities, then she can have them."

"That's not what makes her jealous. She says I let you have full reign and do nothing to control you. She's also envious of our friendship. I think she sees you as competition, even though Rene and I haven't been together since that day in court."

"Why would she see me as competition?" "She knows that my heart belongs to you Jordan. It has for a long time. I believe she put it as, her having my body but knowing she could never have my heart. She wanted me to love her but I cant. When I got back together with Maggie, it was just sex. I knew that I didn't love her anymore, and with Lily, she made me feel young but I compared her to you. I know that you don't feel the same way I do, but I love you Jordan and I always will." Garrett sighed, not wanting to look at her but needing to. Jordan looked shell shocked.

"Garrett, I care deeply for you, but I cant say those words. I'm not ready for that. You know I have commitment problems. I want to be with you Garrett but I just cant say that until I know in my heart that I will mean them. I wont hurt you by making it meaningless." Jordan looked sad and kind of spooked.

"I know Jordan. Love takes time, and we have all the time in the world. We can take it as slow as you want or need to. I've waited for this long, I can wait longer." Garrett smiled at her and gently brushed his lips over hers.

"Thank you Garrett for always being what I need."

"Anything for you Jordan, anything." Jordan snuggled up to his side and they started watching the movie Jordan had picked out.  
  
Love it? Hate it? Think I should stop? Think I should go on? Let me know!  
Thanks!  
GN


	2. Authors Note

Authors Note:  
  
I want to thank all of you for reviewing my little story about Jordan and Garrett. I promise I will continue it. In fact I have the second chapter written out, it just needs to be typed. I swear I will get it up as soon as possible.  
  
Thank you for reading.  
  
GN 


	3. Chapter 2

AN: I had sudden inspiration after last nights premier episode where Jordan and Garrett walk out with their arms around each other. 

Love Takes Time Chapter 2

Jordan and Garrett had been going seeing each other for a few weeks now. They would meet at a coffee shop or have dinner after work. Sometimes they would catch a movie if there was something they both wanted to see. Garrett smiled more at work and Jordan appeared to be more grounded. Every one had noticed. Especially Woody in his self absorbed way.

"Hey Jordan, how's it going?" Woody asked one morning on his way to see Devan.

"Not bad. Things are looking good." Jordan replied casually.

"Really that's good. How is your dad?" Woody knew as soon as he asked that he should have kept his mouth shut. The look on Jordan's face was all he needed to tell him that he had stepped in it.

"I guess he's ok, I wouldn't know as I haven't heard from him since he left." Jordan answered with quiet sarcasm. Woody felt even worse.

"I'm sorry Jordan, I didn't mean to bring it up to hurt you. I like your dad and respect him." Jordan stared at Woody for a moment noting that he was genuinely sorry and felt guilty for bring up a sore subject. She would let I slide this time, because that's what friends do.

"Hey its ok. I understand, but I'm not sure Devan will. You better go see her before she gets impatient."

"So we're still friends then?"

"Of course Woody. Just because we didn't work out doesn't mean that we aren't going to be friends. Truth is I don't think I was ever able to look past us being friends. To be something more. I like you Woody but you're just to bright a cheerful for me to have around 24/7."

"I will take that as a compliment and be on my way then. Talk to you later Jordan." With that Woody walked down the hall and around the corner to visit Devan. Jordan stood in the hallway for a moment before heading back to her office. She was happy that Woody wanted to still be friends and that she hadn't damaged things between them. It was one less thing to worry about. Jordan sat down at her desk and spied a photo taken of her and Garrett. It was from Bug and Lily's engagement party the week before. Nigel had been camera happy and had caught her and Garrett laughing in a loving embrace. Jordan was smiling with her arms around Garrett's neck and he had a look of contentment on his face as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They looked like a perfect, happy couple. Jordan smiled at the memory, lost in sunny daydreams, when her phone rang.

"Cavenaugh." Jordan answered professionally.

"Jordan…" the voice on the other end said quietly.

"Dad. How are you? Where are you? When are you coming home? I miss you." Jordan asked all at once.

"Slow down. One thing at a time. I'm good. I'm in Virginia. That little place we went to when you were about 13. I don't know when I'm going to come back. I miss you too Jordan, but I think things need to settle down a little more. How are things with you? How's Woody?" Max asked.

"I'm doing pretty good. Bug and Lily got engaged last week. Nigel was camera happy as usual. Woody wasn't there. He and Devan were out. Not that either were invited. Woody and I talked today. We decided to just be friends and he's seeing Devan now. Nigel's doing good. He found someone just as odd as himself, to be with. Garrett's good too. Everything is fine at the bar. I check in every other night or so to make sure everything is running smoothly." Jordan answered.

"How are you dealing with things?" Max pressed for more.

"You mean about James. I wish I'd had more time to get to know him. I wish I had told him that I loved him before he jumped just so he would have known. I slept in my office for 2 days because my apartment was the last place I saw him with his guard down, just a little. When I finally did go home, I found a sweater on my bed. It smelled like him. I guess he forgot it when we ran out of there. I wear it almost every night. Garrett helped. He set aside the fact that he was furious with me and let me cry on his shoulder." Jordan paused, staring at the photo of her and Garrett again.

"I'm sorry Jordan. I should have been there for you. But you only briefly mentioned Garrett. How are things?" Max pressed, knowing Jordan was leaving something out.

"He's good. He and Walcott argue every other day about this, that and the other. She hate me. Garrett sticks up for me. He thinks she's jealous of me. Life goes on."

"What aren't you telling me Jordan?"

"Garrett and I got together. He told me he loves me."

"And you haven't run yet. I'm proud of you. Now did you tell him you loved him?"

"No. I cant say those words yet. I'm not ready. I want to be sure that I really mean them. I refuse to hurt Garrett by saying it and not meaning what I say." "That sounds like you love him to me."

"Maybe so but I need to know for sure and tell him when I know I mean it."

"Good girl. Take things slow. But I wouldn't wait too long. Garrett is a patient man but a man just the same."

"Thanks dad. I love you."

"I love you too Jordan. I'll talk to you again soon."

"Bye Dad." Jordan ended the call and wandered down the hall to Garrett's office. She knocked on the door and went in almost immediately. Rene was there.

"Sorry. Was I interrupting something?" Jordan asked looking at their faces. Garrett looked relieved and Walcott look even more irritated that usual.

"No." "Yes" Garrett and Rene said at the same time.

"Well I'll let you guys finish your discussion. Garrett, when you have a moment." Jordan said from the door way. Garrett nodded. She closed the door behind here and went back to her office. She sat down at her desk and realized that she didn't have any paperwork to do. For once she was caught up with everything. Not to mention, it had been a slow day at the morgue. Only one body had come in and the was with Bug and Nigel. Jordan moved to her couch and stretched out. She didn't plan on sleeping but that was how Garret found her 20 minutes later, when he walked in to her office.

Garrett figured that whatever Jordan wanted to tell would have been important enough to stay awake. Why else would she have interrupted a conversation with Rene? Of course any distraction from that woman these days was welcome. He sat down next to her on the couch, well as much as possible when her body was stretched out on it. Garrett stared for a moment. She looked so innocent when she slept, like she had never seen all the hardships and lived through such trying family things. Garrett reached up and brushed a stray curl away, that had fallen across her face. The movement woke Jordan from her nap.

"Hey. Did I fall asleep?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah. What did you want to talk about?" Garrett questioned.

"Oh, right. Dad called. He's in Virginia waiting things out. He wanted to know what was going with everyone."

"Did you tell him about us?" Garrett asked as Jordan sat up to make more room for him. Garrett leaned back and she put her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah I did." Jordan answered softly.

"What did he say?"

"That he was happy for us and to take things slow."

"Don't we always take things slow?" Garrett asked as he leaned in to kiss Jordan on the forehead. He checked his watch. "Lets get out of here. We can grab a bite to eat and a beer and I can tell you what Rene's latest rampage was about."

"Ok. Let's go." Jordan picked up all her things and Garrett went to do the same thing. They met outside his office and wandered down to the parking lot.

"My car or yours?" Jordan asked.

"Up to you." Garrett answered.

"Yours" Garrett nodded and opened the door for her. They ended up at the Pogue for dinner and beers.

Another week passed without incident. Jordan and Garrett would meet up at one or the others apartment. Garrett loved being at Jordan's and Jordan loved being Garrett's. It was something to laugh over. Slowly but surely some of Jordan's clothes had migrated to Garrett's closets and a few of Garrett's shirts found themselves worn by Jordan, instead of their original owner, and Garrett loved it. He thought Jordan looked best when she was tousled with sleep filled eyes wearing only his shirt. They would spend nights together and they were comfortable with each other without sex and neither were in a hurry to take things to the next level. They had spent last night apart and Jordan, who had gotten used to being curled up next to Garrett, had slept in her shirt and hugged his pillow all night. She wandered into work early with dark circles under her eyes. She had tossed and turned and not slept much. She made her way to her office, navigating by memory and blind luck. Garrett saw her come in and headed toward her office.

"Hey." Garrett said as he looked around the door.

"Hey." Jordan answered without much enthusiasm.

"You look like hell. Did you sleep at all last night?" Garrett asked.

"Thanks and no I didn't." Jordan answered.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just couldn't fall asleep." Jordan lied while thinking You weren't there to snuggle against. Garrett looked at her suspiciously.

"Are you sure there isn't something else bothering you?"

"No I'm just tired." Jordan masked her emotions and looked Garrett in the eye. Garrett knew there was something else going on right then and he had the distinct impression that Jordan was getting ready to run and there was nothing her could do.

"Ok. We don't have any autopsies to do today, so if you're caught up on your paperwork, then you can take the day off."

"I have a few things to do but that's it." Jordan studied Garrett, wondering if she should tell him what was wrong. Garrett didn't give her a chance to make a decision.

"Go home when you're done." with that Garrett walked out and went back to his office. Jordan stared at the door for a moment before heading for Nigel's office.

"Hey Nige." Jordan said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, love. What is it?" Nigel answered.

"Would you mind terribly if I asked you to find my dad?" Jordan asked.

"Jordan…" Nigel sighted.

"Never mind. I'm sorry Nigel. Forget I asked." Jordan said quickly and walked out.

"Jordan!" Nigel called after her, but she was gone. He checked her office and Garrett's before giving up.

Jordan took the cargo elevator down to the parking lot and jumped into her car and drove home. She grabbed clothes and then went to fill up her tank. She hit the interstate and raced down the highway, speeding her way toward Virginia. Her father had said he was at the beach house they staid at when she was 13. She only hoped he was still there. About halfway through West Virginia, her cell phone rang. It was Garrett. She ignored it, knowing full well that she was running from him. She made Virginia about 3 in the afternoon and made her way toward the little town of Sea Crest. She navigated her way toward the office that controlled the houses.

"Good afternoon ma'am, may I help you?" The woman at the front desk asked..

"Yeah. I'm looking for my dad. He's not expecting me. I came to surprise him. His name's Max." Jordan said.

"And what is his last name?" the receptionist asked.

"Cavenaugh." Jordan answered.

"It looks like he's in house 4."

"Thank you so much." Jordan said as she dashed out the door and hopped into her car. She raced toward the beach house and saw her dad sitting on the porch. She quickly parked and jumped out.

"Dad." Jordan called, near crying.

"Jordan…" Whatever else he was going to say, was cut off by Jordan's hug.

"I've missed you so much." Jordan said against his shoulder.

"I've missed you too. Come inside and we'll talk." Jordan nodded and they went inside. "Now what's going on? Everything was fine when we talked last week."

"I don't know. Last night I couldn't sleep. Garrett wasn't there for me to snuggle against. I woke up this morning and realized I needed him and I wasn't ready to face it. I love Garrett and I cant live without him and it scares me so much. I don't know how to tell him or that I even want to tell him. What if her decides I'm not worth it and realizes he could have someone normal, without problems. Then what will I do? I cant handle it."

"Jordan, you need to talk to him. Garrett deserves to know. You need to stop running. I love you Jordan, but you need to go back to Boston." Max hated to do that to her, but its what she needed. Jordan looked at her father in disbelief and it finally sank in. She loved Garrett and he loved her. She didn't need to run anymore. Jordan hugged and kissed her father and headed back to Boston as fast as she could.

It was nearing 2 am when she made it to Garrett's apartment. She knocked on the door and Garrett answered the door sleepily.

"Garrett." Jordan said breathlessly.

"Yes, Jordan." Garrett answered slightly irritated.

"I love you Garrett. I'm sorry I ran today. I realized that you're everything I want and need." Garrett looked surprised.

"I love you too Jordan. Come on. Lets get some sleep, you look like hell." Jordan laughed as she joined him in his apartment and he shut the door behind them.

Please tell me what you think. Should I stop there or should I continue? Let me know.


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